For as long as I can remember, I have never perceived an individual and collective malaise so overhanging, intensive and extensive as in these Coronavirus times.
People, crushed as they are beneath the weight of fear, are more suggestible than ever, therefore dangerously susceptible to being manipulated. The stronger the power of suggestion, the greater the risk of ideological conditioning. Even in the name of the current epidemic or other suggestive threats, people can be robbed of the fundamental rights gained in the last seventy years: personal freedom and the right to privacy, freedom of movement and assembly, freedom of association, freedom of thought, freedom of religious, political and scientific opinion and expression, freedom of the press, freedom of economic initiative, which are some of the most important rights guaranteed by the Italian Constitution (Rome, 1948) and by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Paris, 1948).
At present, the rigor of the constraints imposed by the Government, although it has created widespread concerns in some milieus, which are also fearing for the stability of democracy, has been generally accepted - when not expressly requested - by the population, overwhelmed by fear of contagion, disease and of death.
Owing to the red flag health emergency, significant subtractions of freedom quotas could be imposed on the nation. In fact, quite a few constitutional rights have already been suspended.

Let us get ready to carefully evaluate what will happen when the epidemic emergency is over.
Let us get ready to be vigilant and spiritually prepared to act, if the constitutional rights should not be promptly and fully restored, in order to prevent slipping into a biopolitical normalization of anti-democratic forces.
Furthermore, to avoid sinking into a catastrophic post-traumatic depression at the end of the epidemic period, we must recognize that now more than ever we need to raise and expand our spiritual awareness, in order to defend our right to freedom, to knowledge, to happiness and love, being supportive of all creatures.

If besides surviving, we would also like to fully regain our civil, social and spiritual rights, first of all we should discover how to live again in accordance to our authentic spiritual nature, getting rid of the greatest conditioning factor: ignorance, that generates selfishness, as the main antagonist of Love.

People are panicking, because they fear that physical death is the end of life. It is not so.

Bhagavad-gita II,20:
“For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain."

Only by fully understanding that the fear of ceasing to exists (abhinivesha) is an atavistic conditioning, from which we urgently have to be relieved, we can valorize human life as a unique opportunity to experience our immortality, finally becoming aware of it.

Every day we must devote time to spiritual purification practices, in order to successfully face life’s trials which are awaiting us (also for the benefit of those who do not practice), and insist on proposing to nations and their institutions to introduce yoga and meditation, with their practical and philosophical aspects, into educational programs at all levels; the aim is to support students - who will be tomorrow's adults – in acquiring a deep and complete knowledge of themselves, of universal values ​​and of the bond uniting each creature to the whole creation, helping them develop their highest human and spiritual potential.

Saint Francis: “Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures”
Bhagavad-gita, XII, 13-15:
“One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a proprietor and is free from false ego, who is equal in both happiness and distress, who is tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, and engaged in devotional service with determination, his mind and intelligence fixed on Me – such a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me.”
“He for whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anyone, who is equipoised in happiness and distress, fear and anxiety, is very dear to Me.”

Otherwise, no anthropological revolution, even less a spiritual one, will have lasting success. Everyone’s coveted goal of happiness, regardless of the socio-economic model adopted, will remain a chimera.

Let us deeply meditate and pray with fervor for our hearts and minds to light up with love, as well as for many virtuous people who are waiting to discover the purpose and meaning of life.

In this period of "confinement", I encourage you to practice Yoga postures and breathing exercises, to chant assiduously Hari-Nama-japa, to get enough rest, to eat moderately and to choose food produced with the lowest violence rate, capable of strengthening your immune defenses, to cultivate the company of evolved people and help the ones you will meet; study, pray ardently and meditate to protect you and your loved ones from the collective neurosis that will become more intense in the months to come.

Everything will slowly pass, leaving wounds in individual consciousnesses and in the socio-economic fabric. You, who in the meantime will have done spiritual exercises and developed the sense of reality, should have remained calm and strong, in order to be ready to comfort the most emotionally and psychologically fragile people and the many ones ruined by the economic crisis.

The mix of public health epidemic and the economic crisis has revealed the lack of vision and prudence by political leaders in recent decades.
If no transformation of consciousness will be urgently activated, no leader and no citizen will be able to successfully rebuild the future well-being everyone is hoping. It is only by being fully aware of our individual and collective human frailty, that we can become truly responsible, carrying out in the spirit of service our duty at a social level and always entrusting ourselves to God’s mercy.

Only in this way, we can truly help others and ourselves now and when the time of calamity will be at an end, helping rise from the rubble, materially and spiritually, a joyful and unified humanity.

In appreciation of all those who do their utmost endeavors for others in this dramatic emergency and with a feeling of closeness with the families affected by the loss of their loved ones.

Marco Ferrini